KIGALI – Anas Badr of Egypt needed just two games to announce himself as the EA Sports FC 2026 champion at the second edition of the SportsBiz Africa Esports Cup, defeating compatriot Toxic Joe at BK Arena on Sunday.
Badr, competing in the tournament for the first time, walked away with the $10,000 (approx. Rwf14.7 million) top prize after a final that brought together two Egyptians at the end of a fiercely contested continental competition.
His victory came after he eliminated defending champion Zaid April in the knockout stages, while Toxic Joe reached the final after overcoming 2025 finalist Moaaz Ahmed Ibrahim.
The final was played on a best-of-three basis, but Badr needed only two matches to settle it. He took the opening game 5-3 before producing another commanding performance to win the second 6-3.
From Players to an Industry
Toxic Joe lost to Anas Badr at the final.
Badr’s victory was only part of what SportsBiz Africa brought to BK Arena, where the organizers used the tournament to demonstrate that eSports can grow beyond professional gaming into a wider industry.
The competition featured two categories, with EA Sports FC 2026 carrying a $10,000 prize pool and eFootball Mobile offering $5,000. Morocco’s Anass Moussa won the eFootball Mobile category.
The tournament brought together 40 players from 11 countries, a major expansion from the inaugural 2025 edition, which featured eight players from eight countries.
Ronny Lusigi, President of the Kenya Esports Federation, said the growth reflected the increasing confidence in Rwanda as a host for continental eSports events.
“We are glad that we had 40 players from 11 different countries. This just shows the level of trust people have to come to Rwanda for events. It shows you the passion of eSports in the continent and the depth of players in the continent,” Lusigi said.
Building the Next Generation
The wider program included the SportsBiz Africa game developers garage which aimed at encouraging game developers to develop their own games as part of an initiative designed to expose young people to opportunities beyond playing established titles.
Out of eight university teams from Rwanda that took part, Higa team emerged winners with “Feed the Farm”, a game in which players compete to feed animals with the correct food within 30 seconds.
Level Up team finished first runner-up with “Road Master”, while The Spartans took second runner-up with “Spotit”. The game developers garage was supported by Digital realm entertainment, Excursion games, Alpha research labs and Rwanda’s ICT Chamber.
The initiative fits into a broader ambition to build an eSports ecosystem in which opportunities extend to game developers, coaches, commentators, managers, event organizers and other professionals.
For Rwanda, that could be as important as producing a continental champion.
Four Rwandan players, Samy, Tresol, Franklin and Praise Nyamwasa, were eliminated during the group stage. But Lusigi said the tournament was also about giving local and regional players exposure that can raise their level.
“Part of what this tournament assists us with is to raise the level of the local talent. And when I speak of local talent, not just the Rwanda talent but also the East African talent,” he said.
Six East African players reached the last 16, with Kenya’s ProRate and Kappa making the quarter-finals.
A Route to the World Stage
The organizers now want to take the competition further by bringing official world championship qualification events to Africa.
Lusigi said African players face a difficult pathway to international competitions because of the lack of servers and internationally hosted events on the continent.
“Our vision, our goal, our ambition is to ensure that official World Cup qualifying events and world championship qualifying events across several categories of eSports are done here,” he said.
He believes that could be achieved within about three years, pointing to the fact that the eFootball championship was officially licensed by publisher Konami.
